The invention relates to a connecting device for a frame structure made of support profiles and of crossbars, in particular for the arrangement of solar panels. The invention also relates to a frame structure, in particular for the arrangement of solar panels with such a connecting device.
A frame structure has support profiles anchored in or on a substrate, e.g., in the ground, on which a grid of crossbars arranged lengthwise and crosswise is provided as a supporting frame. Plate-like elements, such as solar panels, are arranged on the crossbars in the desired alignment. The crossbars are, for example, assembly rails, which can be connected with one another simply via appropriately configured fastening devices and on which the plate-like elements can be arranged simply by means of correspondingly configured fastening devices. Connecting devices are provided between the support profiles and individual crossbars.
For anchorage in the substrate, the support profiles are often rammed into or screwed into the substrate so that a perpendicular alignment is not always guaranteed after driving in the same. German Patent Document No. DE 20 2006 014 047 U1 discloses a connecting device for a frame structure made of support profiles and of crossbars for the arrangement of solar panels and having an adjustment possibility, which makes an alignment of the crossbars on the support profiles possible.
This known connecting device has a base element, a receptacle element and a locking device, by means of which the receptacle element can be fixed relative to the base element on the base element. The U-shaped base element has two legs as a fastening section of the base element for arrangement on a support profile of the frame structure as well as a support section, which connects the two legs, with a support side facing the receptacle element. The legs of the U-shaped base element are provided with feed-through openings for clamping means featuring screws and nuts, which are fed through openings on the end of the corresponding support profile and can be clamped to fix the base element. The receptacle element is formed by two L-shaped parts, between which a receptacle for a crossbar of the frame structure is configured. The flanges of the L-shaped parts respectively form an application section with an application side facing the base element.
The locking device of this connecting device includes elongated holes, which are arranged in the mounting flanges and run transverse to the longitudinal extension of the crossbar accommodated in the receptacle. In addition, elongated holes are provided in the support section of the base element that can be overlapped crosswise with the elongated holes of the mounting flange, i.e., in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the crossbar accommodated in the receptacle. Screws with nuts as clamping means for fixing the receptacle element on the base element are respectively provided in the crossing elongated holes. After the four clamping means are loosened, the receptacle element is displaceable relative to the base element.
The disadvantage of the known solution is that the locking device has a plurality of clamping means, which are arranged to fix the receptacle element on the base element, each of which must be separately clamped. These connecting devices involve a lot of assembly work in particular in the case of solar parks with a plurality of support profiles.
The object of the invention is creating a connecting device for a frame structure, which does not have the aforementioned disadvantages and in particular permits a simple as well as flexible assembly of a frame structure.
According to the invention, the locking device has at least one clamping device as well as at least one bearing device and an application area and at least one depression area are provided between the clamping device and the bearing device.
When the locking device is in the clamped state, the receptacle element lies flat against the base element in the region of the application area. In the region of the depression area, the receptacle element and the base element are spaced apart from each other by a gap or by a undercut, which is produced due to the at least one depression area. If the at least one clamping device is loosened, the receptacle element is tilted around the tilting axis, which is formed by the transition section between the application area and the depression area. When the connecting device is in this state, the receptacle element can be displaced for adjustment relative to the base element. If the at least one clamping device is then clamped again, the receptacle element tilts back so that the receptacle element and the base element are again in contact with each other in the region of the application area. When the connecting device is in this state, the receptacle element is fixed in the desired alignment relative to the base element.
To adjust and fix the receptacle element relative to the base element, only the at least one clamping device must be loosened or clamped, thereby significantly reducing the assembly effort as compared to the known solution. In addition, one clamping device, which is advantageously configured as a clamping screw, and one bearing device, which is configured, for example, as a clamping screw or as a retaining rivet, e.g., with two rivet heads, suffice for the locking device. The connecting device according to the invention has a low number of parts and therefore can be manufactured especially economically.
For a compact configuration of the connecting device, the at least one clamping device and the at least one bearing device on the application section are provided advantageously within the receptacle of the receptacle element.
The connecting device is advantageously pre-assembled at the factory and made available to the user in the joined together state. As a result, besides a suitable tool, no additional parts of the connecting device have to be carried along separately. Advantageously, all clamping devices of the connecting device respectively have the same rotary engagement means so that only one type of tool is required to assemble and adjust the connecting device.
The at least one clamping device is advantageously provided in the application area and the at least one bearing device is advantageously provided in the at least one depression area, thereby guaranteeing simple adjustment of the receptacle element relative to the base element when the clamping device is in the loosened state.
A step is preferably provided between the application area and the at least one depression area, which renders a simple configuration of the tilting axis or of the depression area on the corresponding element of the connecting device possible. The step advantageously runs at an inclination, which includes, with the plane spanning from the application area, an angle of less than 90° and especially advantageously an angle in a range of 40° to 50°, whereby extreme tension peaks are avoided in the material of the corresponding element in the transition area between the depression area and the application area.
The step is advantageously provided on the support side of the support section of the base element, whereby, when the fixing device is in a loosened state, the receptacle element can be displaced in a simple manner relative to the base element.
Alternatively, the step is provided on the application side of the application section of the receptacle element. In another variation, a step is provided both on the support side of the support section of the base element and on the application side of the application section of the receptacle element, whereby an especially large gap is created between the base element and the receptacle element without significantly weakening the material strength of one of the elements of the connecting device.
The support section of the base element preferably has a fixing section projecting on the fastening section on at least one side of the fastening section and at least one part of the locking device is provided in the region of this fixing section. The part of the locking device arranged on the fixing section that projects on one side is still accessible from outside for fixing the receptacle element relative to the base element, even if the connecting device is arranged on the support profile. The at least one clamping device is advantageously provided as part of the locking device in the region of the fixing section.
The base element preferably has a first feed-through opening for the at least one clamping device and a second feed-through opening for the at least one bearing device in the support section, and the receptacle element has a first feed-through opening for the at least one clamping device and a second feed-through opening for the at least one bearing device in the application section, wherein at least one of these feed-through openings is configured as an elongated hole. The at least one elongated hole makes simple displacement possible in a range predetermined by the dimensions of the elongated hole.
One of the feed-through openings of an element is configured as a curved elongated hole, wherein the radius of the elongated hole corresponds to the distance of the elongated hole from the adjacent feed-through opening in the corresponding element and wherein the concave longitudinal side of the elongated hole faces this feed-through opening. Alternatively, at least the two feed-through openings of the receptacle element and of the base element are configured in the assembled state of the connecting device as opposing elongated holes that cross and overlap.
The first feed-through opening for the at least one clamping device in the support section of the base element is preferably configured as an elongated hole, thereby guaranteeing a simple adjustability of the connecting device and the crossbar accommodated therein. The first feed-through opening is preferably configured as a curved elongated hole, wherein the radius of the elongated hole corresponds to the distance of the elongated hole from the second feed-through opening in the base element and the concave longitudinal side of the elongated hole is facing this feed-through opening. When the connecting element is in a loosened state, the receptacle element can be swiveled around a swivel axis formed by the at least one bearing device relative to the base element.
One of the feed-through openings preferably has a threaded section for a thread arranged on at least one clamping device and/or for a thread arranged on at least one bearing device, whereby it is possible to dispense with additionally arranged clamping elements, such as, for example, nuts, for clamping the at least one clamping device and/or the at least one bearing device. As a result, the connecting device has substantially fewer individual parts, thereby making it even easier to handle and economical to manufacture.
The first feed-through opening preferably has a threaded section in the application section of the receptacle element for the at least one clamping device provided with a thread and the second feed-through opening has a threaded section in the support section of the base element for the at least one bearing device with a thread, thereby making the connecting device simple to clamp and loosen.
The receptacle element advantageously has a fixing device for fixing the crossbar accommodated in the receptacle, which includes a bore hole as well as a curved elongated hole spaced apart from the bore hole. The radius of the curved elongated hole corresponds advantageously to the distance of the elongated hole from the bore hole and the concave longitudinal side of the elongated hole is facing this bore hole. In addition, the fixing device includes at least one rear engagement element, which engages in a corresponding rear engagement groove configured on the crossbar and which can be swiveled around a clamping device fed through the bore hole. This makes it possible to simply adjust the inclination of the crossbar corresponding to the swivel range that is made available.
A frame structure according to the invention, in particular for the arrangement of solar panels, has several support profiles and several crossbars, wherein a connecting device is provided between at least one of the support profiles and at least one of the crossbars, which has the aforementioned features. The frame structure can be erected with little assembly effort.
The invention is explained in greater detail in the following on the basis of exemplary embodiments.